CLASS Y. POLYPI: 
AQUARIA. 
643 
ber of tentacles. Some of the species attain a considerable size. The Corymorpha nutans attains 
a length of four inches and a half. When placed in the water it has the appearance of a beauti- 
ful flower, its general color being pink. 
TH£ FOCNTAIN AQUARIUM, 
Aquaria. — We can hardly dismiss this Division of the Animal Kingdom without noticing a 
recent device, designed to bring into the house and home some of the most interesting species of 
animals which inhabit the waters, so that we may see them and study their habits, and thus 
unveil the mysteries of the deep ; nay, make them the instruments of our daily and familiar 
amusements. This is the Aquarium, consisting of a glass tank or fountain, usually of an oblong 
shape, with straight sides, and of larger or smaller size, but y&i of sufficient dimensions to admit 
of a floor of sand and stones, with a few water-plants, so that fishes of various kinds may freely 
move in the water above and around these objects. It is, in fact, a miniature of the water-home 
of the fishes ; it is imitated from nature, though of such form as to be an ornament even to the 
parlor. Every one has seen the glass globe and the gold-fish uneasily and restlessly turning and 
winding within ; this is a kind of aquarium, but its tenants are in an artificial and unhappy 
condition ; the water becomes impure and needs frequent changing ; the sides of the globe by 
their flexure, constantly enlarge and contract and distort the images of the moving objects of 
our attention. The true aquarium jjlaces, not solitary fishes in a barren and helpless isolation, 
but various kinds of sea animals in a natural companionship, and among objects with which 
nature associates them. 
For this invention we are mainly indebted to Mr. Robert Warrington of England, who began 
his experiments there about the year 1850. Mr. Gosse, the English naturahst, took up the sub- 
ject, and has largely contributed to the acquisition and diflusion of the practical knowledge 
requisite to the successful management of aquaria. In 1853, an aquarium on a large scale 
